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The Social Sciences Department, Lahore School of Economics hosted its Fourth Annual Social Sciences Conference on April 17, 2016 at Burki Campus Lahore. The theme on the first day of the conference was ‘Beyond Boundaries: Language and Literature in a Globalized World.’ This theme stems from the fact that we are living in an interconnected world which has affected culture, education and learning from multiple perspectives with the massive expansion of media and technology. These effects were highlighted specifically from the viewpoints of linguistics, literature, gender and cultural studies. Renowned scholars, academician and researchers took part in the conference.

The first day of the conference began with the welcome address by the Rector of Lahore School of Economics Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry. The Keynote address was delivered by Dr. Sabiha Mansoor Professor of English at the Lahore School.

The first session titled ‘Language and Literature in the Local and the Global Context’ was chaired by Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, Vice Chancellor, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad. Dr. Samina Amin Qadir, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, presented her paper on ‘Effective Socialization Differences between single-gender and mixed-gender staff institutions: a study of Beginning Teachers’. It was followed by the research paper presentation of Dr. Tayyaba Tamim, Lahore School of Economics, on ‘Reconceptualizing the Question of Language Education from Capability Approach.’ Dr. Waseem Anwar, Forman Christian College-University (FCC-U) Lahore,presented ‘On the Wings of Pakistani “Poesy:” So Where to Now...? Then Dr. Shireen Rahim, Lahore School of Economics, talked about the ‘Technoculture as a Theme in Contemporary Fiction: An Analysis of Hari Kunzro’s Transmission. Last presenter of the first session, Ms. Javaria Siddique, Lahore School of Economics, shared her views on ‘Reading Jamil Ahmad’s The Wandering Falcon as a “Minoritarian” Text.’

The second session titled ‘Representation and Cultural Narratives’was chaired by Dr. Amra Raza, Chairperson, Department of English, Punjab University Lahore. The first presentation of the session was given by Dr. Tariq Rehman, Beaconhouse National University Lahore, on ‘Soft Power of Punjabi: Language in the Domains of Pleasure.’ Dr. Saiqa Imtiaz Asif, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, presented on ‘Culture Jamming and Social Media: A Multi modal Analysis of the Image of Pakistan Constructed in Humans of New York and Newsweek.’ This was followed by the research paper on ‘Teaching Literary Theory in Pakistan’ presented by Dr. Zulfqar Hyder from International Islamic University, Islamabad.Last presentation of the day was on ‘Representation of Women in Pakistani Print Media’ presented by Ms. Ayesha Zafar, from Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore.

Both of the sessions gave an opportunity to the audience to take part in the form of questions and answers after the presentations. These interactive sessions gave substantial insight into the issues highlighted at the conference.